question of balance

rustyrazor

rustyrazor

Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Messages
1,774
hey guys, I'm trying to find the best stainless steel for use as a combat knife... that's not saying just a fighter, but a soldier proof blade that can take a severe beating and still hold a decent edge, while being able to be resharpened in the field.
 
seriously ...nobody has an opinion on this, or is it just that nobody wants to be judged on what they write? come on guys, it's for the greater good, lol
 
Are you looking for suggestions on the steel stock, or suggestions for a finished knife?
 
If you're looking for a steel type, 420HC or AUS8 will take a beating and keep kicking--providing the heat treatment and design of the knife are solid of course. ;)
 
If you are asking steel, AUS8 and 440C for stainless for a fixed blade 6" and up is great.

Now if you added carbon, 1095 can't be beat
 
dearest "crimsonfalcon07" ...please, before you give someone a hard time for not asking specific enough questions, do us all a favor and read the first post, where I asked quite a "specific" question indeed... I'm looking for the best stainless steel to use as a combat knife that can take a lot of punishment. I don't want a knife, I want to make a knife out of the best materials possible for my customers and I want to start with steel specifically, and as specifically as I can list the desired properties, Im looking for Toughness, then strength, followed by edge retention then rounded out by the ability to resist stains and be resharpened in the field, which tie for last place in my opinion. as stated, I am looking for a soldier proof blad that I know will stand up to some severe abuse and I can put my name behind. and thanks guys for the input, there are some interesting thoughs in there
 
yeah, I'm using 440c now and have been for some time... I've tested it beyond what any knife would be expected to do and am very happy with it so far, however I'm always hearing about these "super steels" that are on the market that are soooo much better than the "old" stuff, that I can't help but wonder what is so much better and why. i mean, edge retention yes, but if you can't resharpen a knife in the field, it's not good for what I require.
 
rustyrazor said:
yeah, I'm using 440c now and have been for some time... I've tested it beyond what any knife would be expected to do and am very happy with it so far, however I'm always hearing about these "super steels" that are on the market that are soooo much better than the "old" stuff, that I can't help but wonder what is so much better and why. i mean, edge retention yes, but if you can't resharpen a knife in the field, it's not good for what I require.
Click to expand...


Totaly different niche.. Those are for knife people that arent intending to sharpen in the field, and are best employed in folders and smaller slicers. For the average soldier that just wants a no nonsense beater fixed blade, 440c is perfect
 
strider (among others) has been getting good results with s30v for quite a while, plenty of companies use cpm 154 as well... both are common enough steels at this point that anybody who is using a "high-end" or custom made knife should have had some experience using and sharpening either of these steels :)
 
Rustyrazor, you weren't really that specific. We don't even know if you're talking about folders or fixed blades. For folders, 154CM seems to be the most popular, but something like ELMAX is better in a lot of ways.
 
hey guys, please don't take offence... I thought I had specified enough in what I meant, however I may have generalized a few things (well one at least) as I've never thought of a combat blade as anything other than a fixed blade and I can see where the two first posts threw you off with the cold steel SRK comment. That being the case gents, as stated earlier I need a knife that is able to be resharpened in the field, so something like CPM-S30v isn't even an option as a lot of people can't even get that sharp at home let alone with what they're carrying and I can't afford to use one of the steels that will hold an edge forever but are more brittle than I need.
 
What knives do you make? Do you have examples of your work? :)

(I know I'm going off topic)
 
I mostly make small game hunters as a means to get creative and what I refer to as "combat/utility" knives for more hard use... i've been making variations on the same knife design for somwhere in the neighbourhood of 15 years now and have just been "refining" my design so to speak. I don't think there is a single picture of one of my knives on the internet other than on some soldier's facebook or "I love me" page somewhere. I could post some I suppose, I've just never looked into it thus far or read the regulations in regards to what I can post. I'll give it a read and put a couple up.
 
rustyrazor said:
dearest "crimsonfalcon07" ...please, before you give someone a hard time for not asking specific enough questions, do us all a favor and read the first post, where I asked quite a "specific" question indeed... I'm looking for the best stainless steel to use as a combat knife that can take a lot of punishment. I don't want a knife, I want to make a knife out of the best materials possible for my customers and I want to start with steel specifically, and as specifically as I can list the desired properties, Im looking for Toughness, then strength, followed by edge retention then rounded out by the ability to resist stains and be resharpened in the field, which tie for last place in my opinion. as stated, I am looking for a soldier proof blad that I know will stand up to some severe abuse and I can put my name behind. and thanks guys for the input, there are some interesting thoughs in there
Click to expand...

Wasn't trying to give you a hard time. I always read every post in the thread before I post up mine. That's why it took me something like 3 months to post up my own contribution to the EDC thread... I just wasn't sure if I should be recommending knives or steel.

Since you're looking for steel, I'd have to agree with CPM154. Well done, it's easy to sharpen, and holds an edge very well, and has very good toughness. Not well done, it doesn't seem to take the greatest edge though. AUS8 isn't bad, and some of the Chinese steels do pretty well as well.

I'm not sure why people say they have such trouble sharpening S30V though. I find it plenty easy to sharpen, once I actually learned how to sharpen. Not sure if your average soldier knows how to sharpen or not, at least not well enough to have the difference matter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top